Wayne County commissioners approved a $500,000 grant for the Community Development Block Grant funds, which could be put toward a vacant hospital in Lincoln Park to serve COVID-19 patients.
The vacant hospital could go from 80 beds to 440 beds, which would be used in the event that COVID-19 surges and area hospitals reach their capacity, according to the News-Herald.
“Insight Surgical Hospital can provide immediate relief in Wayne County through increased beds and help decrease the chance of COVID-19 exceeding overall capacity,” Executive Warren Evans told the News-Herald. “Over the long term, there is also great potential here as a state-of-the-art neuroscience center in Lincoln Park.”
Evans told the News-Herald many hospitals have already reached their capacity, and the county needs to act quickly.
The vacant hospital has short-term plans for $1.5 million, and $20 million worth of long-term plans that will create over 300 jobs, according to the News-Herald.
“Beyond serving an important role in the regional response to COVID-19, we are excited for the long-term prospects at this site,” Lincoln Park Mayor Thomas Karnes told the News-Herald. “Having a functioning hospital there again would spur other investment and also provide a boost to some of the important development underway in that area of Lincoln Park.”
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